Recyling Catches on at Cajun Field

Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns fans are becoming champions of recycling.

The amount of reusable materials collected after the latest home football game – against Georgia Southern on Oct. 4 – soared, said Gretchen Vanicor, director of Sustainability at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

“We’re encouraging fans to keep recycling in mind for Saturday’s Homecoming game against South Alabama,” she said.

The University is competing in a collegiate recycling contest, the GameDay Recycling Challenge, to raise awareness. Two national awards will be presented, along with five awards within each football conference or division.

“Participating universities submit their highest collection and recycling numbers for the competition. So, Ragin Cajuns have two more chances to top the Georgia Southern game totals – Homecoming and the Nov. 22 Appalachian State game,” Vanicor said.

Republic Services of Acadiana records the weight of waste – separated as recyclables and garbage – that it picks up after games played at Cajun Field.

Tailgating spots have green recycling bins and blue trash bins. Inside the stadium, recycling materials go into red containers, while trash is stashed in black bins.

After the first home game against Southern University, there were 3.86 tons of recyclables and 12.40 tons of garbage. So, the “diversion rate,” the amount of material that was diverted from a landfill, was 23.7 percent.

Numbers for the Louisiana Tech home game in September dipped a bit. A total of 17.21 tons were collected, which included 3.05 tons of recycling and 14.16 tons of garbage. That resulted in a 17.7 percent diversion rate.

But there was spike in recyclables for the third home game.

“The disposal for the Georgia Southern game on Oct. 4 totaled 16.1 tons, which included 10.55 tons of recycling and only 5.55 tons of garbage. The "Diversion Rate" was 65.5 percent,” Vanicor said. She credits the improvement to growing fan participation and the diligence of the facilities crew managing the post-game cleanup.

Last year, Ohio State won the GameDay Challenge with a 98.47 percent diversion rate.

The University has been engaged in recycling since 2010, when its Student Government Association launched the effort on campus.

This year, UL Lafayette adopted a zero waste philosophy. Its goal is to reduce the waste stream altogether.

The GameDay Recycling Challenge is a joint project of the College and University Recycling Coalition, RecycleMania, Keep America Beautiful and EPA’s WasteWise program.